Sewing machine needle



Nov. 2, 1937. R. A. LINEHAM ET AL 2,097,495

SEWING MACHINE NEEDLE Filed June 2,. 1956 29- Vfimess 7 1 gm??? V v fl t r36;-

Patented Nov. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES.

SEWING MACHINE NEEDLE Rowland Augustus Lineham and George Clarke,

Leicester,

England, assignors to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 2, 1936, Serial No. 83,056

' In Great Britain July 6, 1935 3 Claims. (01. use-+2.22%

This invention relates'to sewing machines or needles therefor and-is particularly, but by no means exclusivelyconcerned with machines and needles-for sewing together the uppers and soles of so-called slipper turnshoessewn without a last therein."

In the making of slipper turnshoes by sewing together an upper and a sole by usual chainstitch curved hooked needle sewing machines, suchfor instance as disclosed in patent to Ricks No. 1,923,586, dated August 22, 1933, it is customary to turn the upper inside out, place a sole therein, turn the margin of the upper over the edge of the sole until it lies over on the margin thereof, sew the margin of the upper and sole together by the machine andthen turn the shoe inside out so that themargin of the upper lies-on the surface of the sole which faces the inside of the shoe.

The soles of slipper turnshoes, madein this manner, may be ofdifferent character. They may be composed wholly of leather or felt, or may be a combination of leather'andfelt, in which latter case a thin leather sole and a comparatively thick felt sole are usually sewn together, before the sole and upper are assembled together, by a lockstitch seam extending round the margin of the sole near the edge thereof. 7

In sewing an upper to a combination sole by a curved hooked needle chain stitch sewing machine, difliculty is often experienced by reason of the threads of the lockstitch seam which secures the two portions of the sole together, or the preceding loop of the chain stitch being formed, being caught by the barb of the needle and broken as 35 the needle withdraws from the work. The principal object of the present invention is to eliminate this difiiculty in the sewing of an upper and a combination sole of a slipper turned shoe by a curved hooked needle chain stitch sewing ma- 40 chine.

With the above and other objects in view, as may hereinafter appear, a feature of the present invention contemplates the provision of a curved hooked needle for use in a chain stitch sewing 45 machine having its barb on the side of the needle away from which the work is to be fed, and on the inner side or concavely curved portion of the needle. Preferably the barb will be so positioned as to be directed at an angle of approximately 40 50 degrees towards the axis of curvature of the needle. Also preferably the barb will be provided with a surface curving at the needle throat inwardly towards the center of the needle stem.

A needle constructed as above described may be 55 said to have its barb positioned, when the barb is directly below the center of the curve ofthe needle, on one side of the needle looking onto and along the point of the needle, and above a horizontal plane passing through the center of the stem of the needle below the barb at right angles 5 to the plane in which the curved center of the needle stem lies.

The features of invention above referred to, and other features hereinafter described and claimed, will be apparent from the following de- 10 scription'of a preferred form of curved hooked needle and of its manner of use in a chain stitch shoe sewing machine.

In the accompanying drawing Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views, to an enlargedscale, illu'sl5 trating diagrammatically two positions of the needle during the sewing together. of an upper and, a combination sole by a chainstitch seam; Figures 3 and 4 are'side elevations of opposite sides of part of the said preferred form of needle 20 to an enlarged scale;Figure5 is a View looking in thedirection of the arrow V in Figure 3 of the hooked end of the needle; Figure 6 is a similar view looking in the direction of the arrow VI in Figure 3; Figure 7 is a section on the line VII-VII in Figure 3; and Figure 8 is an elevation of the end of the needle when viewed in the directionof the arrow VIII in Figure 7.

In Figures 1 and 2 part of an upper I and part of a combination sole composed of a layer of felt 3 and a layer of leather 5 are shown. A lockstitch seam shown at 1 joins the two parts 3 and 5 of the combination sole together. Part of a chainstitch'seam joining the upper and sole together is shown at 9, 9. s v 5 In Figure 1 the needle I I is moving in the direction of the arrow and, is drawing a loop l3 of needle thread through the work and through a loop l5 passing round the needle which the needle has just previously drawn through the work. It 40 will be observed that at this time the loop l5 extends upwardly and rearwardly from the hole in the work from which it extends. The barb I! of the needle has just passed through the loop 15 and is so positioned round the stem of the needle that it passes freely through the loop l5.

In Figure 2, the needle has moved further back in the direction of the arrow and has moved to the right in readiness to pass through and then feed the work. The loop l5 has slipped off the needle and been drawn down on to the work by the action of the needle as'it moves rearwardly and to the right.

It will be observed that the barb I! of the needle is positioned, as shown in FiguresB and 4 at the left hand side of the needle and towards the inside of the needle when viewed from in front of the needle point. As shown in Figure '7, the point of the barb lies'on a line extending upwardly and to the left from the center of the needle stem at an angle of Substantially forty degrees. This position of the barb has been found to be such that the barb not only avoids engagement with the threads of the lockstitch seam I, but also passes readily through the loop l5. The space between the point of the barb l1 and the shoulder I9 is comparatively small'and the outer surface 2| (Figure 8) of the barb is about the same radius asthe stem of the needle so that the shoulder [9 as the needle advances through the work barb and is thus prevented from engaging the threads of the lockstitch seam I. ceiving recess 23 (Figure 8) of usual size is formed in the needle as close as possible, consistent with strength, to the outer face 25 of the needle, and

theouter face 2i dfthe barb is curved, as shown at 21; (Figure il) so that, as the needle retires through the work, the curved part of the face 21, if it engages a thread of the lockstitch seam, pushes this thread away from the barb and prevents the barb from catching the-thread.

, The needle is provided with grooves 29, of substantially usual form in which the needle thread lies as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

r The said preferred form of curved hooked needle has a radius of about half-an-inch and will be sharply pointed if the needle is to be used for sewing uppers to felt or combination soles and will .be chisel shaped if the sole is composedrwholly of leather. 7

b With the barb of the preferred form of needle arranged ashereinbefore described, the barb is unlikely to catch the lockstitch seam as it retires since the threads of the latter: seam extend substantially vertically through the sole and lie along the upper and lower faces of the sole while the barb is so positioned round the stem'of the needle that, as the needle retires through the is shrouded by the The thread rework, the barb avoids engagement with the threads of the lockstitch seam.

7 When the said preferred form of needle retires through the work and draws a loop of thread through the work and through a loop of thread then passing round the needle, this latter loop which extendsfrom theihole in'the work just previouslyformed by the needle round the needle is drawn somewhat away from the work by the needle as it moves rearwardly, and this loop takes up such a position that the barb of the needle positioned onthe needle as above described passes readily through it as the needleretires.

It will be understood that the use of a needle with its barb positioned as above described and of the said radius is not restricted to use in machines for sewing together an upper and a combinationsole. V

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated, what is claimed is:

'1. A-'curved hookedneedle for use in chainstitch shoe sewing machines comprising a stem 7 curved in the arc of a circle and provided with a barb located on the side of the needle. away from which the work. is ,tobe fed anddirected towards the axis of curvature of the needle stem.

2. A curved hookedneedlefor use in chainstitch shoe sewing machines comprising a stem curved in the arc of a circle and provided with a barb located on the side of the needle away from which the work is to be fed, and directed at an angle of substantially forty degrees towards the axis of curvature of the needlestem.

3. A curved hooked needle for use in chainstitch shoe sewing machines comprising a stem curved in the arc of a circle and provided with a barb located on the side of the needle away from which the work is to be fed and on the concavely curved portion of theneedle stem, said barb having a surface curvinginwardly towards the center of the needle stem as the surface approaches the 

